Tobpedo-gtjabd fob ships



A C KNAPPr TORPEDO GUARD FOR SHIPS.-

AFPLICATION FILED FEB. I3, 1919.

1 ,324:,904. Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

2 SHEET$-SHEET I.

A C KNAPP.

TORPEDO GUARD FOR SHIPS.

. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 13.,1919. 1,324,904. Patented Dec. 16,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

aka/w,

A'C KNAPZ P, OF 'VICTORIA, ILLINOIS. I

'TORPEDO-GUARD FOR SHIPS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 16,

Application filed February 13, 1919. Serial No. 276,816.

Togall whomitmayconcem;

B i t.-known that I, A CKNAPP, a c tizen o fthe United States,residingat Victor1a, 1n the county of Knox and Stateof IlliIlOlS, haveinvented certain new and useful provements in Torpedo-Guards for Ships;and I do hereby declare the following to be a iulL-elear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as-will enable others skilled in theart .to which it appertains to make and se the same- 1 i his, i entienre a es to p o g a ds, and m re p tic a ly to a g d sp e e ly adapted tobe applied to ships for guarding or protecting the same from attacks bysubmar ne beats- Qne of the main objects of the invention is to providea torpedo guard which will exend comp ete y about t sh p s as t p te the same item att k y orpe om any quarte a further o jec is to provid a sppor structure adapted o fi bo e s p s as to travel therewith, thisstructure being provided with a plurality of outwardly projecting armswhich supp rt protecting plates, these plates serving to efiectuallyprevent a torpedo ir n QQ l Qt l g-Wfih t e hull of the ship. v Anotherobject is to provide means whereby, when o e o t e pr c ing Plate s sruck y a t rpedo, a d pth b m l he a o cally project d inthe rec on r mwhich he torpedo is shot so as teinjer r de oy the s bmarine b t wh h fid t etorpe Further objects will appear ;f -rom the detailed description.

In the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a guard constructed in accordance with myinvention.

Fig. 2 is aside view of the plied. m

Fig. 3 is a" transverse section.

.Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 :is a fragmentaldetail of the means same, as apior controllingthe circuit of one of the ns. Fig. 6 is a fragmental detail sectionthrough one of the guns, and parts associated therewith.

In carrying my invention into efiect,

provide a supporting structure which is adapted to fit about the hull ofa ship, "this structure comprising an upper frame land a lower floatv.1t'ram'e 2, which .is somewhat smallerthan the upper Qframe, these twoframes being rigidly secured together by brace'beams Bthus forming aframework or cradle which is adapted to fit about the hull of aship soas to :bepropelled through the water therewith. This cradle is providedwith horizontallyprojecting arms 4 rigidly secured thereto at theiri-nnerends, the outer ends of these arms being secured to an outer floatframe 5 which is normally-positioned beneath the water surface. Thisfloat frame is of substantially rectangular cross section and conformsin outline to the crib structure. The outer v,fioat frame .5 is disposedin uniform spaced relation to frame 2 and disp sed in the pl n of h innr m hes two fl at i em be ng rigi ly necte y cing and c nne t n em rs7.. E ch of the 'arms .4 is provided in its outer end with a verticalslot or recess which snugly receives the inner end portion of asupport.- ing arm 8 hingedly secured therein by a pivot bolt 9. As willbe noted, this arm pro.- jects a short distance acrossthe nppe'r face ofthe outer float frame and is so connected to arm 4; as to have freeupward movement about its axis, While having its downward movementpositively limited by the float so as to normallyprojectsubstantiallyhorizontally therefrom. At its outer end, ar rn 8 isrigidly secured to a cross bar .10. This cross bar receives inwardlydirected horizontal pins llwhich are slidable through openings providedthrough the cross bar for this purpose, these pins being secured attheir outer ends to a substantially rectangular guard plate 12 whichprojects above and below bar 1 In practice, there are a relatively greatnumber of these bar-sand plates provided, each supported by a pair ofarms8, and these plates are disposed with their ends closely adjacent,as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, so as to form a completely closedprotecting wall about the hull of the ship.

An operating rod 13 is slidable through the bar'l0 at thecenter thereof,the outer end of this rod being inserted through plate [l2 and securedagainst movement there- .threugh e her 'diiree en by Liam nuts 4.

At its inner end, rod 13 is pivotally secured in the bifurcated outerend of a rod 15 hinged at its inner end, as at'15, to a rod 15 slidablethrough a U-guide 16 secured on the u per face of float frame 5.1 r

R 15 is normally held 'n outward pk) sition by an expansion coil spring17 mount-v ed about the rod and confined between an annular shoulder 18formed on therod. and aguide bracket 19 secured on the upper face of theinner float frame 2 and slidably' receiving the inner end portion of therod.

At its inner end, this rod is pivotally connected to the lower arm of abell crank lever 20 the upper armof which is secured to a flexiblemember 21 for releasing a contact member. 22 for movement into contactwith twospaced contacts23 connected to the 0pposite sides of anelectricbattery B. A gun 24 of suitable type is mounted upon the topframe 1 in a substantially hor1z0ntal position, this gun being providedwith a suit- .able breech block 25 which carries an electric'allycontrolled firing mechanism includ ing members 22 and 23', and terminalmembers associated therewith for igniting an explosive charge, contact22 being carried by a plunger 22' forced inwardly by an exansion spring22*, and normally held out y. a releasing rod 21*.to which member 21 issecured, this rod being normally held raised by an expansion spring 21".The gun is adapted to receive an ex losive charge 26 for propelling aprojecti e 27 therefrom.

This projectile is in the form of a depth bomb,containing an explosivechargeand being provided with a time fuse 28 which is adapted to beignited simultaneously with firing of the cartridge. In practice, atleast one of these guns ispositioned upon the top 1 frame 1 in alinementwith each guard plate. When any one of the plates is struck either by atorpedo, or by a submarine boatitself, the plate will be forced inwardlyso as to cause the gun to be fired thus discharging the projectile intothe water over the guar plate, this projectile being exploded through ithe medium of the time fuse soas to injure or wreck the submarine. Inthecase. of a torpedo which is fired from a submarine boat, theprojectile will be discharged me, straight line in the direction fromwhich the torpedo was fired, so as to be positioned comparatively closeto the submarine'at the time of its explosion. In the case ofa submarineboat being struck by one of. the

i guard plates, the gun will be fired thus giving a signal which'will'indicate accurately just where the submarine boat is positionedand'permit the same to 'be attacked with depth bombs of usual type.Ineither case the gun will act as a' signal and, in; the formercase,'will also act to propel the projectileflin the direction fromwhich the torpedo is shot and to thus possibly seriously injure or sinkthe submarine boat. In the event of a plate being struck by a torpedowhich explodes, this plate and the associated parts can swin upwardlthus minimizing the effect of t e force 0 the explosion and preventinserious injury to the ship or to the guard therefor.

It will be evident that there may be slight changes made in theconstruction and arrangement of the details of my invention withoutdeparting from the field and scope of the same, and I intend to includeall such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims, inthis application in which a preferred form-only of; my invention isdisclosed. I a i What I claim is: t V

1. In a torpedo guard for ships, the combination of a supportingstructure adapted to fit about the'hull of a ship 50 as to be propelledtherewith, float frames mounted in spaced relation with said supportingT of said guard plates and means for closing i the electric circuit oroperating the. firing mechanism of each of said guns when thecorresponding guard plate is forced inwardly. 2. In a" torpedo guardforships, a supporting structure adapted to fit about the hull of a shiso as to be propelled therewith throug the water, a float frame mountedin substantially spaced uniform relation tothe supporting structure,arms.

rigidly secured to said supporting structure and to the supporting framefor maintaining the same inproper spaced relation, supporting armshingedly secured to the outer ends of the first mentioned arms formovement about horizontal axes, said supporting arms having theirdownward movement positively limited by the float frame so as to benormally maintained in substantial horizontal position, a cross barrigidly sei cured to the outer ends of said supporting arms, a guardplatesupported by sald cross bar for movement toward and away from thesame, an operating rod slidable through thecrossbar and securedat itsouter end to the guard plate, a rod hingedly secured at its outer end tothe inner end of said operating rod, means for normally forcing said 186rod outwardly so as to hold the guard plate spaced away from the crossbar through the medium of the operating rod, a gun carried by saidsupporting structure and provided with an electrically controlled firingmechanism, and means connected to said operating rod so as to beoperated thereby for closing the circuit of the firing mechanism of thegun when said guard plate is forced inwardly.

in presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

JOHN L.- RAY,

CARL V. NELSON.

A C KNAPP.

